Demonspawn (39 page)

“Help!” Sam called.

One had pinned him to the ground. The only
thing saving Sam was he had managed to push his table leg against
the vampire’s throat. I grabbed a spoke from a broken chair and
thrust down into the vampire’s back. Blood fell all over Sam. The
vampire went limp and collapsed on him.

It was the first vampire I’d ever staked. I
didn't have much time to reflect on it. I pulled Sam to his feet,
then heard Alicia scream behind me.

I spun around. She and Chris had somehow
managed to drives stakes into the two vampires that had tripped,
but three more were pushing their way inside. Donna stood behind
us, too afraid to move.

All the things I could do. Talk to ghosts,
move through walls, fly, none of that mattered. There was nothing I
could do against vampires.

I saw a quick flash of red hair, just behind
the vampires. Then one fell to the ground. Then another. By the
time the last vampire had a clue that something was happening,
Victoria had the end of a railing in its chest.

Everyone was stunned, including me. She
knocked a few tables out of the way as she pushed her way
inside.

She was covered in blood. Her clothes were
ruined. She looked completely in control, which was odd to me. I
know I was scared out of my mind.

Bill Sloane was right behind her. He didn't
even bother ducking through the door and what was left of the
barricade. He simply walked through it. He gave me a nod, knowing I
was the only one who could see him. He must have found Victoria and
followed her, not able to do anything else.

I looked her up and down. I can guess what
she had been doing. I'm sure she would have quite a story for me
later.

“Damn, Victoria.”

She looked at her arms, which were covered in
blood from elbow to fingertip.

“Not exactly clean, I know,” she said.
“What's going on here?”

“We tried to hold up in here. I think the
army is blocking people from leaving. I saw them from up in the
air.”

“I know. I called them.”

“You?”

“Yeah. I still have some friends in high
places. We contain this
now
, not let it spread outside these
walls. You and Bill, you did good.” She looked at her arms. “It
might not look like it, but you saved
a lot
of lives.”

I gave Bill a look. He took a deep breath and
smiled a bit.

“Thanks. And thanks for the help.”

She looked at the vampires, all staked on the
floor. Then she looked at our little crew.

“I'm impressed. Vampires aren't easy for
humans to bring down.” She looked right at me. “But you shouldn't
have needed my help.”

“What?”

She pointed to my wings. “Have you forgotten
what you are? These vampires, they're newborn and wild. Humans will
have trouble with them. But
you
, you should be able to tear
them apart.”

Alicia took a step beside me. Chris was right
next to her. She put a hand on my wing, then my shoulder.

“Lay off my brother,” she said. “He saved
us.”

“Yeah,” Sam said. His tie was loose, his
shirt unbuttoned. “I have no idea what he is. But this young lady
said her brother wouldn't let her down. And sure enough, he popped
in like five seconds later, like a ghost.”

Victoria gave me a stern look.

“You keep holding back. I don't know why. But
you'd better start letting loose, or we won't make it through the
night.”

“Hey, I'm not stronger than these
vampires.”

“True. But you're a damn
demon
, Alex.
I know you've got more in you than a fancy pair of wings. Just stop
holding back.”

Deep down, I knew Victoria was right. Some of
my problem was not knowing what I could do. But I knew I had more
powers in me. They always seemed to come out when I didn't think,
when I ran off instinct.

But I was afraid. I stepped closer so only
she could hear.

“If I let whatever's in me out, I might not
be able to reel it back in. I have nightmares about demons, and
they scare the hell out of me.”

She gave a nod. “You'll do fine. You're
stronger than you think.”

I said nothing, chewing on her words.

“Okay,” Victoria said to us all. “The army
won't let anyone out till daybreak. It doesn't matter whether
you're infected or not. Alex and I have to go help out whoever we
can. Put this barricade back up, then barricade yourselves in the
kitchen. Don't make a sound, and you'll be okay. We'll come back
for you when we can.”

“I'm afraid no one's going anywhere.”

The new voice came from just outside.

Bachner stepped inside the restaurant. Right
behind him was Heins, along with three of their flunkies. Behind
them, I saw two of their men fire their flamethrowers, followed by
some vampire screams. Alicia and Donna covered their ears. The same
two vampire killers stayed outside to keep watch.

“Damn, I'm sorry, Alex,” Bill said. He'd been
quiet this whole time. “I fucked up. I should have stayed outside
to keep an eye out.”

I nodded to Bill that it was okay.

Victoria threw her hands up in the air, like
she was more frustrated than afraid.

“Come on, Bachner. Don't you have better
things to do than be obsessed with your little revenge
fantasy?”

He didn't say anything for a moment. He
stared at the woman whom he'd been chasing nearly his whole life.
He and Heins both had crossbows trained on Victoria. He looked at
the humans in the room.

“You four, step away. Move over to the other
side of the room.” He looked at me. “I wish you could go with them,
but you picked your side.”

“Fuck you. I'm not moving a step,” Alicia
said.

I patted her shoulder. She looked me in the
eye. I could see she was scared. She could see I was serious, and
confident. Everything would be okay. Sibling communication.

She moved away along with everyone else.
Chris stood in front of her and held her hand. Brave guy.

“Uh, if I could say something,” he said. “I'm
still trying to catch up, but the hot lady and Batman did save our
lives.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Heins said. His first
words, and he pointed his crossbow at Chris.

“Would you calm down?” Bachner shouted. He
lowered Hein's crossbow with his hand.

I could see Victoria react, just slightly.
She noticed the tension between them, like I did when I first met
them.

Bachner looked at Victoria.

“I've waited so long to kill you, for my
grandfather. So I have to admit, the revenge part is nice. But I
wish I could have killed you before spread your filth.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you that clueless?
Bachner, yes, I killed your grandfather. We both know this. I gave
him every single chance I could, tried to pound it through that
thick head of his, before he backed me in a corner. I am
not
a fucking monster. Now here you are, following in his footsteps. If
you want to kill me, fine, but this feral vampire bullshit that's
going on right now,
you
did this, with your little cooked up
stolen cure-gone-wrong.”

He chuckled angrily. “I've spent my life
killing vampires. I don't
make
them. You helped create it in
that research center, then blew it up.”

I could see Victoria was angry, but also
confused. We both could see Bachner actually believed what he was
saying.

“Bachner.
Jake
. Listen, and
think
. I know you hate me, and to be honest, I don't like
you either. But I'm the one who called the army. I'm trying to
contain
this. I've got sources that told me
you
did
this.”

“I've never seen him,” Bill said, pointing at
Bachner. Then he looked at Heins. “He's the guy that was running
the show, at the research center, and at the service tunnel
here.”

Of course.

Bachner was getting ready to say something,
then closed his mouth. He was thinking, keeping his eyes locked on
Victoria the whole time. A smile flashed across Heins' face, and
Victoria, Bachner, and I all realized it at the same time.

Heins.

Bachner turned his head in time for Heins to
hit him with the butt of his crossbow. Bachner's nose shattered and
blood poured down his chest. He dropped his crossbow and stumbled
back into Victoria and me. Of all people, Victoria kept him from
falling. As she caught him under the arms, Heins fired his
crossbow. The bolt went through Bachner's shoulder, and pierced
Victoria's heart. She fell instantly to the ground. Bachner,
screaming in pain, went down with her. They were stuck together,
Bachner's back pressed against Victoria's chest. I knelt down next
to them and grabbed the bolt. Alicia, along with everyone else, was
screaming.

“Hey!” Heins said. The two goons behind him
aimed their crossbows at me. “Hands off.” I let go of the bolt.
Bachner was in pain, but lucid. We locked eyes before I stood
up.

One of Heins' goons leaned in his ear.

“I'm telling you, boss. That's the freak.
Fire don't work on him.”

Heins looked me up and down. He shook his
head.

“I knew I should have killed you when I first
saw you. But Uncle Sweetheart on the floor there wouldn't have it.
Just what are you? Some kind of vampire experiment? Like our
wonder-cure that ended up making more of you bastards?”

I didn't say anything.

“Alex?” Alicia said from across the room. She
looked at Victoria. “Is she okay?”

“I told you to shut the fuck up,” Heins said.
He gestured for a goon behind him. The goon pointed the crossbow at
Alicia.

I felt rage inside me. Just seeing someone
threaten Alicia.

“Hey,” I said to the goon. My voice sounded
different. A quick flash of demons in my head, slobbering and
howling. He looked at me. “I'm the most dangerous thing in this
room. You'd better point that thing back at me.”

He actually did so.

But the rage wasn't going away.

It was like I said to Victoria. I hoped I
could reel it in.

“I always knew you were a piece of shit,
Heins,” Bachner said on the floor next to me.

He laughed. “I've waited a long time to see
you on your back where you belong. You're a pitiful excuse for a
vampire killer.”

“Listen,” I said. “Whatever it is you had in
mind, it's over. The army's here, getting shit under control.”

“How can you say that when you don't even
know what I've been up to? Ask that cream puff on the ground there.
You know what the hardest part to killing vampires is? Getting help
from other people. Convincing them vampires even exist. Well now,
I've done that.”

I shook my head. It sounded insane.

“You're okay with destroying an entire city,
just to prove to the world that vampires are real? That's what this
is all about?”

He didn't even hesitate. He smiled and
nodded.

“Yes. Sacrifice a few to save the world. The
sunlight will kill most of them, me and my men will round up the
stragglers. That's the difference between me and you, Jake. I will
do what needs to be done. You'll lose sleep if someone's little
butcher shop falls to the ground.”

“You've fucking lost it. This isn't what
killing vampires is all about,” Bachner said.

I saw a stream of flame outside. There was a
scream, followed by someone poking their head in.

“Boss. We've got a group forming up out
here.”

“Alright. Time to go, boys.”

I looked at Bill. He nodded, knowing exactly
what I wanted him to do. It was all he could do, really, to follow
them.

“What should we do with them?”

Heins looked at all of us. “They'll be dead
by morning anyway. Kill him.” He pointed at me. “And we might need
some hostages. Bring the two girls.”

One of the goons smiled, and looked at Alicia
and Donna. “Now we're talking.”

And that was it. I snapped.

I vanished and ran toward them. They barely
had time to look surprised. I vanished in and out, landing punch
after punch, but disappearing before they could get their bearings.
I swung at the guy who leered at my sister and her friend. I caught
him twice on the nose. I knocked the other goon to the ground with
my wings.

I didn't see Heins slip through the front
door.

Alicia called my name. I turned to see the
goon whose nose I broke aiming his crossbow at me. I vanished,
feeling the bolt pass through me. The bolt hit the wall behind
me.

One of the goons who was keeping watch
outside stuck his flamethrower inside the door. Alicia and the rest
had gathered around Bachner and Victoria now, making sure they were
okay. I stood in front of them and spread my wings.

At first I thought I was hit in the face with
a bucket of warm water. Then I realized it was the flame. It felt
great.

“Alex!” Alicia called.

They were all safe behind me.

“I told you!” someone shouted. “Fire doesn't
do shit!”

I ran forward, not quite seeing where I was
going. I reached out where I thought the fire was coming from and
grabbed the nozzle. I pulled hard and knocked the guy off his feet.
He was alone, Heins and his men had left him. I punched him hard a
few times in the face. He looked up at me, terrified.

I was close to the front of the store, and
could see the vampires running. Three of them stopped and looked at
me. I looked at the man who had tried to burn me and my
friends.

“Mind slowing them down for us?”

It wasn't a question. I grabbed the gas tank
off his back before pushing him out of the restaurant. The three
vampires tore into him quickly. He screamed in agony as they pinned
him to the ground.

I didn't even flinch.

I turned back to the others.

“Sam! Take this.”

He stood up and looked at the flamethrower I
was handing him. It would have been funny any other time. A
well-dressed businessman holding a flamethrower.